Call for reform in regional dental care

The Consumer Health Forum of Australia (CHF) says the state of dental care in the country is a national embarrassment - and needs to be addressed in next week's federal budget.

The organisation says delays in getting dental treatment are a huge issue in regional areas.

The CHF says close to two million Australians have missed out on dental health care in the last two years, because they couldn't afford it.

Carol Bennett from the CHF said a significant investment is needed.

"We're seeing at least 650 000 people on public waiting lists for public dental treatment across Australia," she said.

"And if that figure's not bad enough, only 11% of those are receiving treatment in any given year.

"Most people are waiting on average over 2 years to get any help and for some it's up to 5 years."

Ms Bennett is urging the Federal Government to consider a range of reforms, including targeted dental funding and an increase in overseas trained dentists.

She said dental care services need more money.

"What we're calling on the government to do is to deal with this crisis through significant funding for dental reform in next week's federal budget," she said.

"We've seen a recent report of the National Advisory Council on dental health, which the Government set up, to advise it on what it should do, that sets out several different options for reform, and we want the government to listen to the advice of its own committee."